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Elements for the clarification of the canonical area of responsibility of the diocesan bishop with regard to priests incardinated in his own diocese and priests working within his diocese

I Ecclesiological Premises
 
Diocesan bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches entrusted to them “with counsel, persuasion, good example, but also with the authority of sacred power” [2].
 
Priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Order, are consecrated to preach the gospel, to shepherd the faithful and to celebrate the sacred liturgy, as true priests of the New Testament [3]. They participate in the work of Christ, the one mediator, according to the proper grade of their ministry. Every priest must be incardinated into a particular Church, or in a personal prelature, or in an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life which has this faculty (can. 265) [4].
 
There exists between the diocesan bishop and his priests a sacramental communion in virtue of the ministerial - or hierarchical - priesthood, which is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ [5]. 
 
As a consequence, under the juridical profile, the relationship which exists between a diocesan Bishop and his priests cannot be reduced either to the relationship of hierarchical subordination of public law found in the juridical system of states or to the relationship of dependant work between an employer and an employee...
 
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The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts

Ultimo aggiornamento di questa pagina: 18-GIU-09
 

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